The Hogwarts Tournament
by Meow the Unicorn
Summary: Two from each house fight against eachother like the Triwizard-Tournament. One beause of their theoretical skills, and the other one because of their practical skills. The Marauders are excited about competing, but when only one of them is chosen, the others get jealous. Remus x Sirius, James x Lily, slight Sirius x Regulus. Will the Marauders become friends again? Who will win?


Part 1 of 7; The Hogwarts Tournament

The marauders sat by the gryffindor table, enjoying their dessert as Dumbledore walked up to his rostrum. James looked up at the principal, but he was obviously occupied talking to some of the other professors, so the raven-haired boy turned to his friends again.

«What do you think it is this time?» he asked to no one in particular. Peter answered something, but as usual his mouth was full of some disgusting type of food, so no of the other understood what he said.

«I bet-» Remus said, pointing at James with the spoon still covered with spots from his vanilla pudding. «That it has something to do with this years Hogwarts,»

James rolled his eyes. «No shit, Sherlock,»

Sirius looked at them, chewing on something that looked like bubblegum-icecream; «Think how special it would be; something great happening the last year we`re here. Maybe the Triwizard tournament,» he wondered with dreaming eyes.

Remus shook his head, sad to break his friend`s dreams. «No, it is only twenty years since last time it was held,» gesticulating unnecessary with his spoon, ending up dropping it on the floor. He swore under his breath as he picked it up, ready to clean it with his wand when no-one was watching.

Sirius chuckled. «You`re such a klutz,» he said, dipping his own spoon in Remus` dessert, holding it to his lips. «Here; eat,»

Remus smiled fondly, obviously fine with the fact that he was being fed by one of his best friends, more than just a few people looking. James rolled his eyes as he looked at the others.

«You guys are so... awkward,» he decided.

Sirius laughed his usual happy bark. «No, we`re not,»

James was about to argue, but it looked like professor Dumbledore had finally got the astronomy-teacher of his back, and looked at the crowed.

«I will like to say a few words,» he started, like he often did. The room fell quiet, not because of any spell, but because of Albus Dumbledores natural authority. «I assume you are all familiar with the concept of the Triwizard Tournament-?» he didn't get any longer before the room exploded in applause and eager yelling. Their principal smiled slightly.

«_I tooold you_,» Sirius sang in a low voice to his friends, right before the room fell quiet again, everybody was very eager to get to know what Dumbledore would say.

«The Triwizard Tournament is a contest between a lucky student from three diffrent schools, a skilled student, with great intellect, to compete against each-other in three dangerous tasks. This... will not occur this year, as some of you might know,»

This time the room exploded with an angry tone, mad that their principal had given them false hope.

«I told you,» Remus remarked with a smug smile at Sirius, who rolled his eyes and used his spoon to place a piece of vanillapudding in Remus` hair instead.

«This year, and only this school, will have a new contest, something no-one has ever had before. If it works well it might be a tradition to this school, and if it doesn`t; no harm happened,» Dumbledore smiled at the suddenly drawn-back crowd. «I will present to you; _The Hogwarts Tournament_,» he said, waving his hand against the teacher-table. The table broke in half, and drifted apart and almost against the wall, teachers sitting a bit frightened in their suddenly moving chairs, back against the two walls, parallel with the house-tables.

Behind the former teachers-table, it was a shorter table, clad with a black silk-cloth. It was four bowls, each with the banner of each house hanging in the air over them. The bowl under the gryffindor flag was golden and red, the one under Slytherin silver and green, and so forth.

James looked at the bowls with amazement. He had heard many times about the Hogwarts Tournament; his uncle had come second-place, but he had never actually tought this would happen. But still, he was not sure what _would_ happen.

Dumbledore smiled as he received a handful of applause for this amazing news.

«The Hogwarts Tournament is simple to understand, although it was made of someone of high intellect,» he smirked slightly, and James was sure this person of _high intelect_ was Dumbledore himself. «Two candidates will enter from each house. It would probably be most people at their seventh year, because this Tournament is nothing else than a contest between wit and skill. The person of most theoretical skill; in other words the one that know the most spells, and about all the other classes. It will also be a candidate of practical skill; that would say performing spells correctly, transfiguring things at a perfect level and so forth. The reason it will be most last-year students is not because they are better than any of you,-» he assured a first-grader from Ravenclaw who looked genuinely hurt of Dumbledores lack of trust. «- it is because they have trained longer. It is understandable if you do not want to join this, in fact, this started as a bet between me and professor Gladston,» he chuckled and looked at the astronomy-teacher, who had the look like someone who just witnessed a lion tearing apart a dead gazelle. «Those who do not want to join, can put a note with their names in it outside of this hall, until tomorrow. Tomorrow we will see who gets to compete,» he walked around the «talestoltingest» to take a better look at his students. «The tests will end when the first person give up/ «trekkerseg», and it will continue like this until there is only one person left. In some of the contests it might requier two people to resign for the task to end. You are not teemed up with the other person from your house; all man by themselves.

To the one who actually win, he or she will be crowned as King or Queen of Hogwarts, and have a plack along with the other trophies, as well as a crown, and a thousand galleons,» Dumbledore smiled and winked. «Now, you should all go up to bed and think carefully if you want to compete or not, and if you do not want to, you have to write your name on the note before three pm tomorrow,» he said, and walked to sit along with the other teachers, the table taking it`s original form again.

James smiled as he rested his arms behind his head. Sirius layed on his stomack, looking at James, waiting for him to say something. Neither of the boys could sleep that night, and they all sat up in the dormitory, discussing what would happen the next day. None of them where going to take their chance away, but Peter was the only one thinking he himself had the slightest chance to have his name picked. The others new Peter was not that skilled in any of the two categories; not the best, at least, by far.

«You will for sure be picked for the theoretical, Mooney,» James stated, looking at the red curtains over his bed. Sirius nodded. «Of course he will,»

Remus blushed slightly, but his little smile told that he wouldn't have anything against competing.

«And either James or I..» Sirius looked at Peter, sighing under his breath. «Or Peter,» he said without believing in it, and the rat smiled. «-will be picked out for the practical part,»

James smiled at his friends. «But whoever don`t get picked, should promise not to get mad if someone else of us does. I mean; we`re friends, we support eachother, right?» he smiled as the others nodded, but Sirius` mind seemed elsewhere.

«Think of winning! To prove that gryffindor is the best house to be in!»

«That is not the point of it,-» Remus remarked. «The point is either for Dumbledore to prove to professor Gladston that practical skill is as important as theoretical, or... I don`t know. It seems terrible in a way; telling someone that they are better than the rest of the school,»

Sirius looked shocked at him. «You think this is a bad thing?»

Remus shook his head. «Of course not,»

They smiled at each-other. «We are blood-brothers, damn it!» James smirked. «Whoever of us is chosen, at all; but of course, some of us will be, then that person will be the Marauders spokesperson. Don`t he dare let the other`s down!»

«It is a joyful thing to say, that only a few of you didn't want to participate,» Dumbledore smiled at the eager crowd. «We will start with... Hufflepuff!»

Nervous applause from the hufflepuffs. James looked nervous too. It was something strange about Sirius. He hadn't eaten anything. Perhaps he wished to be in the Tournament that much, and was nervous, but perhaps.. He wasn't even sure. His friend glanced emptily out in the air. James knew it was a great chance for his best friend to be chosen to the practical part of it; Sirius was a good wizard, but James couldn't really picture him fighting against others at tasks like this. Not Remus, at least. It seemed like he and Sirius had really gotten close lightly; Sirius had even been with him at Christmas instead of at James` house where he actually lived now. James felt a strange feeling, like a slight.. nauseousness.

Dumbledore yelled out a name of a hufflepuff girl. Luca, or something, James didn't really know her. His eyes rested on his friend. Sirius` applause, along with James, seemed faint and his mind was clearly elsewhere. Why had he and Remus been so much together? Maybe Peter was with them too, just that James wasn`t clear of it? Even tough Peter was a rat, he could have been told _not to rat_ on them by his other friends. Another name. Frank Longbottom. James applauded and tried to focus. Damn, he even knew Frank, and wasn't even sure in what he had been chosen for. Theoretical skill? Yeah, James thought so, but he wasn't sure. Damn. Why was he so unfocused?

The raven-haired boy in front of him smiled a shining white smile and tilted his head a bit backwards so his curls fell more down his back. Remus looked at him, with a smile of that amusement James was used to receive. The werewolf hadn't have many friends, and he still seemed startled that someone wanted to be around him. Poor Remus. Although James missed receiving that respectful look from him.

He shook his thoughts out of his head and looked at Dumbledore.

«And from Ravenclaw,» Dumbledore continued, a shining blue note flowing out of the bowl with a lot of blue and silver smoke, he caught it between his thumb and his index finger. «Ah; for practical skill we have ms. Mira Chang,»

More applause. James rested his eyes on the black haired, Chinese girl. She seemed friendly enough, and James remembered that she had been really good in the last astronomy-class.

He listened carefully as someone named Bob Barkings was chosen for the theoretical.

And then, it was gryffindor. The best friends all chared nervous glances, giggling a bit by the excitement. They knew it was neither as big nor as dangerous as the Triwizard Tournament, but it was still a pretty big deal.

A note of red came up of the bowl. James couldn't do other but whisper his own name soundlessly under his breath, as it looked like many others did.

«For theoretical skills-»

«Remus Lupin,» Sirius said in a low voice, pushing Remus friendly in the side, who quickly blushed.

«- Lillian Evans,»

«_What?_» Sirius protested rather loudly, and got a lot of stares, as he realized he had raised up. He sat back down as Remus tugged his shirt.

«Shh, it`s alright,» the wold whispered intensely, though the look in his eyes seemed rather disappointed. James wanted to support his friend, as he felt sorry for him, but he sat at the other side of the table, so he settled with Sirius pulling his arms tightly around the werewolf, whispering that he would somehow fix it. James didn't really dare doing anything. A cheerful Lily sat close by, speaking eagerly with her best friend, Mary MacDonald, and James didn't really want to destroy what he could possibly have with her in the future.

Remus tried to push away Sirius, with a slightly nervous smile, but the taller boy seemed to have decided that he would never let the other go. «It`s OK,» Remus hissed. «It`s not like i would ever win that anyway,» he added, low-confidenced as usual. Sirius tried to protest, but Dumbledore had caught the next note, and the excitement was simply to great.

«Now he will call out either you or James,» Remus said in a low voice, smiling, though he still seemed hurt over a certain redhead taking his place in the contest.

«- James Potter»

James` eyes widened, as Remus patted his back and congratulated him. More applause, but James` arms seemed numb, as though he could not realize the others was clapping for him.

Sirius clapped too, although James could immediately tell that something was wrong. His eyes seemed strangely full with hatred, but not against Snivellus, nor any of the other slyterhins as it used to, but towards _him_. His _best friend._

Everyone else continued, but they seemed distant, as though they were just backgroundcharacters in a movie, and Sirius and himself was the stars; the only one`s action that mattered.

«I know.. you wanted to win. I`m sorry, I just wanted you to-» James didn't know how to continue. He spoke in a low voice, but Sirius still seemed able to hear him. At least he scowled. Remus was about to say something, but Dumbledore interrupted it by yelling out a new name. James was so focused on Sirius that he almost didn't gasp out of disbelief and disgust when Snape was selected as the person with best theoretical skills in all of slytherin.

Sirius looked at him with empty eyes. «You have everything, James,» he said in a flat voice. «You have a family who cares. You have.. looks. You have fame for your amazing qudditchtecniques. You will grow up and marry Lily just as you wanted to. Your life is so easy, you never consider anyone else,»

«That is not true-» James begun.

«I just needed this, Prongs. To prove that I was worth something. But this... this _contest_ just tells me what I already know. _That you are better than me,_» he raised up to leave, getting a lot of weird looks from other tables.

«That is not what he meant-» Remus started. Sirius looked at him with eyes that made him quiet. «How do you suddenly know everything? Think you are so smart, huh?» he said in a poisonous voice. James was mad, but he still knew that Sirius would never talk that way to Remus in his right mind. The werewolf seemed startled by the crazy look in his friends eyes as he added in a cruel voice; «But guess you are not that smart either-way, Remmy. You didn`t get picked either,» he was about to leave when he heard Dumbledore call out the last name, the slytherin with best practical skills. At that, Sirius turned around with a wicked grin upon his face, his long shaggy hair not making him look less insane.

«Regulus Black,»

«There you have it. Even my little brother is better than I am,» he said in an unnaturally happy tone, that only made James whimper, as Sirius turned around and walked quickly out of the room. The door closed behind him, and James knew he had just lost one of his best friends for ever.


End file.
